Until It's Gone
by greenpidge
Summary: you never know what you have until it's gone. This'll be a long one if all goes well, rating my change.


**A.N.: Ok so I know that the hole "Creepy nightmares whispering in Pitch's head" thing has kinda been used to death, but just bare with me for this 'cause I can't find a better way to make Pitch relate-able without turning one of the guardians uncharacteristically cruel. And I don't own Rise of the guardians.**

The first day was slow. All the guardians, including the newest one Jack Frost, where exhausted, ether from losing believers, rising from the dead or just plane fighting. So on the first day after Pitch Black was defeated, everyone slept, ate, and sat quietly.

But the second day was the start of a three day celebration of victory. The north pole was the home of the party.

On the fifth day Tooth noticed something. Teeth where coming in at break-neck speeds. She found that she had to help in the field along with the other fairies for a week, after that not even she was enough, so she called in her back-up.

"So kids are losing more teeth?" The winter spirit repeated

"Yes, and I can't tell why."

"So what do I do?"

"I need your help collecting teeth."

Jack obliged and for an other week things went well, but the flow of teeth only kept increasing. after a while Tooth noticed that most of them where lost in injuries instead of the old fashion way, a bad sign.

The Guardians met in the north pole in front of the globe to find a way to find the problem.

North got things rolling. "Ok, more and more children are getting hurt at an unnatural rate. We need to know why."

Bunny was fiddling with his boomerang but replied "Maybe Frost's been makin' to much fun."

Jack added "Or maybe the Easter kangaroo's been hiding eggs next to cliffs."

The two rivals glared at each other until North cut in. "Enough. Children aren't just losing teeth, they are getting seriously hurt and even dieing far more often than is natural."

Everyone became silent. The truth hurt.

Sand Man floated up to the giant globe in the center of the workshop, the same globe Pitch had used to make his presence known. He created an image of each of the guardians out of sand and pointed to them, then each of the figures became simple spheres which scattered and each flew to a different part of the globe.

"Excellent idea Sandy! We split up and see what's happening to the world." A consensus was made on this and the guardians each went to a different continent. Bunny went to Australia, North to Eurasia, Tooth to Africa, Sandy to South America, and Jack to North America.

When the time came to report back everyone agreed that kids where becoming more brave, or perhaps more stupid. Either way children in general where taking more chances with greater two new questions. Why and how to stop it.

* * *

Pitch sat in a corner facing a wall, he was surrounded by nightmares but he knew the wouldn't touch him. First, because he was their king, their lord, the reason they existed, and with out him they would cease to exist all together. Second, because they didn't have to touch him to break him.

_They beat you_

_dieing_

_you are dieing_

_alone_

_you will die alone_

_children hate you_

_they don't believe in you_

_you don't exeist_

Pitch sat in silence, experience had taught him that the beasts would leave him alone soon, and that shouting would only farther weaken him. 'Just wait for them to go away their only telling lies to make you scared.' Like him the Nightmares fed on fear.

_Lies?_

_yours are the only lies_

_we lie to no one_

_you lie to yourself_

The biggest problem was that they where right. The king of nightmares was continuously making himself false promises simply so that he wouldn't slip any deeper into madness. And he was dieing. 'Just wait for them to go away.'

Wait.

He had waited.

He had waited for the Man in the Moon to tell him why he even existed if he only brought fear and suffering.

He had waited for children to star believing in The Boogie Man.

He had waited for the younger spirits to accept him.

He had waited for several thousand years and he was still alone. So he waited to perfect his own version of dream sand, and until he had enough power to use it in one final gamble, all or nothing. And in the end he came out with nothing.

_Lost_

_you lost_

_die alone_

Now that his last store of power was gone, he would die. Slowly fading away into nothing until even the legends of the Boogie Man vanished as well.

Pitch stood up and glared at his nightmares with enough venom to send a grown man running. "Leave me." He hissed.

The great black horses obeyed and the whispering stopped.

Pitch vanished into darkness and made his way outside via shadows. Staring up at the full moon he shouted "Was this your whole plan for me?! To fade away without so much as a goodbye!"

MIM gave a simple response, which took Pitch buy surprise since Manny rarely spoke to him.

_Wait_

'Well that was useless.' The dark man stormed off back down his hole. Out of patience and out of time, "Waiting" was not an option, but it was his only option. "So I'll gust wait to die." Pitch fumed quietly until day broke and he fell asleep.


End file.
